Of birthdays and winter afternoons....

Camerin had her 11th birthday on August 1st. We celebrated with an ice cream pie and 10 movies to watch from Blockbuster. Cami and her dad picked them out. After all, it is winter here! The next day she had a party at a great facility with an enormous pool and indoor waterslide. She and her friends had a great time and came back to our house to continue the celebration with cake and presents. All in all, quite a good birthday for Camerin.


We took to the beach of a recenter winter afternoon, footy in hand. It was cool, but not cold and quite beautiful. The surf was up! Nothing refreshes like going to the beach, even if you don't swim. It's all about relaxing and letting the cares of the world fall away. There are shells to be collected, sand to be sculpted and waves to play chase with. Lovely; unless of course, you stumble upon an odd sea creature (in this case it's Lucas) who is startling in his, ahem, presentation? Ah well, we're all God's creatures after all, aren't we?






Throughout the suburbs of Perth are small clusters of shops with the essentials; grocery store, bakery, chemist (pharmacy), and the ever-present Fish and Chips shop. These little clusters of stores are located right in the neighborhoods, seemingly about 4-6 blocks apart. The kids flock there after school to buy chips, soda and candy. People walk to the shops with their eco-friendly canvas bags to carry their purchases in. Everyone has re-usable bags here for their grocery's. Plastic bags are still used here, but people are very aware of trying to limit their use. Along with the shops, there are park areas sprinkled in with the neighborhoods. They are everywhere and the kids from the neighborhood go there to play footy, basketball, wrestle; you know....be kids! Dogs and their owners also frequent these parks, where the dogs meet for doggie parties. Most of the home lots here are very small and people don't have yards like we all do in the States. So, kids go to the community park to play. It's a neat concept, and parks are so plentiful there are usually several within a short walk. After school, you will find the parks full of kids and dogs playing. Brilliant!